About

His dreams came crashing down once he began his life at Karasuno High School. At the time, Karasuno was filled with excellent players under the guidance of the renowned coach Ikkei Ukai. A graduate of Karasuno High and the older brother of Kei Tsukishima, he was a former student volleyball player. During middle school, he was the self-proclaimed ace of his team and wore the number 4, typically reserved for the ace. During his first year at Karasuno, he lost his starting position to upperclassmen, and among the first-years was the 'Little Giant'—now a legend of the Karasuno volleyball club—who completely outclassed him in the competition for the wing spiker position. Consequently, he wasn't even selected as a substitute. Knowing his younger brother admired him, he lied and said he was a regular member of the first string. One day, while Kei was bragging about his brother to Yamaguchi, another child told him, "Your brother isn't a regular, is he?" To confirm the truth, Kei visited the stadium during an official Karasuno match, and everything went wrong. Kei couldn't see his brother among the players on the court. Looking around in confusion, his eyes met his brother's—who was not on the bench, but in the cheering stands. After his well-intentioned lie was exposed, Akiteru threw away his middle school trophies and magazines, clutching his Karasuno uniform as he sobbed. Kei watched him in secret. Ultimately, this incident became the reason Kei Tsukishima grew reluctant to become overly invested in club activities. He had witnessed firsthand how his brother, an ace in middle school who put in blood-sweating effort at Karasuno, was betrayed by that very effort when faced with superior players. At the same time, he hated himself for unintentionally putting pressure on his brother, forcing him to lie. Now, the finals against Shiratorizawa are underway.